Mojee, Strathfield
Friday, September 30, 2016
Have you guys ever been so hungry that you wanted to order everything on the menu? Well, that is certainly what happened here. When we're craving Korean food but not exactly in the mood to get down and smokey at a KBBQ joint, it's almost definitely Mojee in Strathfield that we turn to.
I discovered Mojee a few years ago when I was in high school as I was looking for a good place to try the Korean dish, ddukbokki at the time. It soon became the go-to spot where I'd take my friends randomly after school if we were in the mood to trek it to Strathfield, after Kpop Auditions (not for myself hehe), and also the special "sentimental" spot between my girl Kanna and I (because we literally would always come here to catch up and we'd order the same dishes and the waiters would be like "Oh I remember you") 😂 The prices were much cheaper back then, but even looking at the prices now they aren't bad at all!
It was so good to see Cathy and Anne-mary again after so long. It's become so difficult to find time for all my high school girls to meet up and hang out, so even seeing more than 1 person in the group feels like home!
Mojee is located along the main strip of shops in Strathfield on The Boulevarde. Even so, it can be difficult to spot if you miss the signs since you need to find the stairs to walk up to the restaurant. Upstairs, the first thing you will notice is that the ceiling is almost a bright green. That's how you'll remember the place! As for the set up, it's very simple with some basic chairs and tables laid out. It's not overcrowded and it feels just about right to call spacious. The window still is decorated with little pot plants and definitely adds a cute factor.
The menu if not on the table is usually handed to you very promptly as the staff are very attentive to everyone who walks in.
I noticed lately they have made some efforts to put in new decorations such as these comfy cushioned chairs with lots of books at the back of the restaurant. Although I'm not sure if anyone actually uses these since Mojee does not sell coffee, drinks or sweets to sit back and relax with.
The girls and I scan the menu and all note how HUNGRY we are. Literally everything sounds good. Normally we would just get the ddukbokki but today, that does not seem enough. We order nearly one item from every category. Nearly. We actually consider ordering more, but the total count is getting out of our budgets.
Side dishes 반찬
I love how Korean side dishes are complementary to every meal and so tasty! At Mojee they give us blanched spinach, kimchi, bean sprouts, salad, and yellow pickled radish. I think they should've considered giving us more, or a bigger quantity since we ordered so many dishes. It's a bit embarrassing at this place to ask for side dish refills. I feel like it doesn't come as naturally as when you are at a Kbbq place. My favourite side dish is the sweet and tangy yellow pickled radish! Everything else is fine, but I think the kimchi is a bit too sour.
We snack on the side dishes and play around with Snap Chat filters, Instagram and do a bit of talking before our first dishes begin to arrive.
Kimchi Dumpling Soup $11
I didn't touch this at all but what I remember from watching the other girls eat this dish was there wasn't that much things inside the soup. Sorry I can't be more descriptive!
Also Cathy and Anne-mary said this is what they ordered but to be honest doesn't this look more like the other menu item, Red Sea (Warm Spicy Soup)? Maybe the kitchen got our order wrong and we didn't know what we ordered enough to care hahaha
Fish Cake Soup $10
Oh this is one of my favourites. A warm and peppery soup with a generous amount of Korean fish cakes floating in it. There are different shapes such as the flat ones, triangle, cylinder, and round. I love the pepperiness of the soup, I find it so hearty and warming. There are also a few cuts of onion in the soup. As for Korean fish cakes, they are unique in the sense that they have a slightly dense texture similar to firm tofu. And these ones all taste the same. A lot of people might not like this but for me, it's good it's good!
A tip is to try and finish this soup quickly because it doesn't taste as good when it's cooled down or cold.
Combination Rice Cakes (Vegetable, seafood, dumplings and melted cheese) $13
THE STAR AND HOUSE SPECIALTY OF THE MOJEE TO BE HONEST. The description has also forgotten to include that there are noodles and a boiled egg in this as well. I absolutely adore Mojee's rice cake dish because the sauce is always so good. It's not always consistent - some days it will burn your mouth off, and other days it will only give it a slight burn - but it's delicious nonetheless. I can't handle spicy very well but this is so more-ish. It makes me like and crave spicy food. The rice cakes in this are so soft, pleasantly chewy, and bouncy. The noodles are like instant ramen noodles. It used to be the clear sweet potato noodles but I prefer these because they are easier to pick up on the chopsticks. There's a really good amount of everything else in this plate and I can't imagine calling this a meal if not for it. Everything is such a welcome addition and my favourite is the mussels which there are usually 2-3 of, and the boiled cabbage.
This plate can easily feed 3-4 people.
Happily filling up on our three dishes with a shared bowl of rice, can you imagine our slight shock horror when the next two arrived? It finally started to hit that each person would have to be eating more than 1 dishes worth HAHA
Dumpling Soup (Korean style vegetable soup with meat dumplings) $11
In comparison to the fish cake soup, this was so much more bland! The dumplings were okay, nothing memorable but the addition of sliced rice cakes was nice and interesting.
Cheese Ramen $10
Without a doubt this is probably just spiced up package ramen with a slice of processed cheese on it. Is it worth $10? No. Is it delicious? YES. Something about having someone else make your ramen for you always makes it a happy time. I probably wouldn't order this if it was just me, but Cathy really digs it so here we are sharing in the experiences!
This is a lot of food.
And by the end of the meal…
I think we did a pretty good job!!!!
Finished everything except the leftover cold soup broths, a few banchans which we didn't think were too great, and a few cold rice cakes. Rice cakes taste really unpleasant when they are cold, and they are so much tougher to choose.
GOOD JOB, GIRLS!!!
Right after this eating experience we headed over to Paul Keating Park to meet Terry and Mary. Everyone proceeded to play Pokemon Go on their phones while I just stood and watched. I unfortunately cannot get any new apps on my phone because it's an iPhone 4 and Apple forsaken us by not letting iPhone 4's get past iOS 7. Sad times 😭
Anyway before ending this post I have a few more food reviews and pictures for you about Mojee! On other occasions I have been here with my sister we of course always get the rice cakes, but we have also tried two other dishes (please excuse my iPhoneography):
Bulgogi with Vegetables and Rice $10
Mojee's bulgogi (Korean marinated beef) is really nicely marinated. You can taste the sweetness from the nashi pears in the marinade. It looks really red and spicy in this picture and there is a spicy bulgogi version but it wasn't that at all, blame the redness on my iPhone 4. The only complaint my sister had about this was she thought there was too much vegetables mixed in with the meat.
Mmmm bibimbap!
Now lets mix it all up with the spicy gochujang provided…
Bibimbap with Fresh Vegetables, Fried egg on rice and Chilli sauce on the side $10
This was one of my first bibimbap's ever and I ended up being really disappointed. I didn't read the menu properly so I thought there was also going to be meat in this but nope the cheapest bibimbap option is this one and it has no meat. It's very much vegetarian (but not vegan). Also I thought it was going to come in the traditional sizzling stone pot and get a crispy bottom of rice but no, it came in a metal bowl. There is also an option for sizzling stone pot bibimbap on the menu.
So being served in this cold metal bowl, the ingredients were also lukewarm and the experience was less satisfying. I found the bibimbap toppings very bland and minimally seasoned. I would've liked more sesame oil or salt in them. The bean sprouts in particular were still very stiff, so not blanched. The egg is fried but not runny which is a little bit sad, but in the end it was still very soft and mixed in nicely with the rice. I didn't like the gochujang (chilli) sauce it came with because it wasn't chilli and tasted really gritty. One thing I will commend this bibimbap on is that at the very least the toppings all seem fresh, and the portion is generous!
Wow I had a lot to say about that bibimbap above! Anyway, Mojee is all really affordable anyway and if you are new to Korean food it also seems like a decent place to start. At least for some dishes. 100% I recommend my favourites of the combination rice cakes, and the fish cake soup. Remember this review when you are in Strathfield next time!
Thanks for reading! xx
TL;DR:
Price: Very affordable
Quality: Good, and value for money
Service: Nicer than most places! Happy with it
Ambience: Simple, spacey
Mojee
1/27 The Boulevarde,
Strathfield NSW 2135
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